London Paddington was one of the iconic "Big 4" London terminuses and was the headquarters of the Great Western Railway. The GWR first built a station at Paddington in 1838 but this was a temporary site pending the building of the current station. This was opened in 1854 with an impressive three span arched roof designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
 |
| GWR 802 015 at London Paddington |
| Information |
| Type: |
National Rail (Great Western Main Line,
Elizabeth Line & Thames Valley Lines) |
| Station code: |
PAD |
| Opened: |
1838 |
| Platforms: |
16 |
The station was enlarged with a fourth roof span in the early 1900s. In front of the station is the Great Western Hotel, built in the 1850s to form the main facade of the station, although this is now a Hilton hotel. After the opening of the Elizabeth Line in 2022 London Paddington now has sixteen platforms (not all are full length) with another six platforms in the adjacent
London Underground stations.
It is the terminus of the Great Western Main Line, Thames Valley commuter services and Heathrow Express/Connect services to Heathrow airport. All services to the station are by Great Western Railway and Heathrow Express/Connect (which has being taken over by GWR) and the Elizabeth Line.
 |
| Stepping back a few years to when the iconic HST ruled Paddington! |
 |
| A variety of services in FGW/early GWR days |
 |
| The latest entrance to the station |
 |
| A line up of GWR IETs |
 |
| GWR 165 104 on a local service |
